Railway hopper car



April 8, 1930. w. E. WBNE RAILWAY HOPPER CAR Original Filed Nov. 16, 1923 Patented Apr. 8, 1930 neural) STATES WILLIAM E. WINE, F TOLEDO, DHIO RAILWAY HOPPER GAB Original application filed November 16, 1923, Serial No. 675,099. Divided and. this application filed January 25, 1929.

This invention relates to railway hopper cars and is a division of my application filed November 16, 1923, for Car door devices, Serial No. 675,099. The principal object of the invention herein disclosed is to provide the outer side sheet of a railway car hopper with stiffening or reinforcing means preventing that portion of the hopper from bulging or from becoming deformed or distorted due tov 1 any forces to which it may be subjected.

A primary feature of the invention consists in constructing the hopper of a railway car with a reinforcing member disposed adjacent the hop er discharge opening, the

member being 0 an ular contour and having a flange interposed etween the hopper side sheet and door supporting means which is secured to the latter.

A further feature of the invention consists in providing the outer side sheet of a railway car hopper with an angular reinforcing member adjacent the hopper discharge opening, the member having a plurality of flan es connected by a web forming an abutment or the door, one of said flanges lying against the outer face of the hopper side an being overlappingly engaged by means secured to the hopper for cooperatin with the door to support it in closed position.

Other features of the invention residing in advantageous forms and relations of parts will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in the claims. y

In the drawings illustrating a preferred form of the invention:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the lower portion of a car hopper embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 22 of Figure 1, portions of the door supporting mechanism being omitted.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the inner face of the bracket of the door supporting mechanism.

As the type of hopper cars to which the invention is applicable is well known, only a portion of one of the hoppers has been illustrated but it is well understood that the construction is duplicated on the other side of the car center sill. Thehopper includes a Serial No. 335,051.

side sheet 1 and a slope or floor sheet 2 which are secured together in any suitable manner (not shown). An angle iron 3 may be con; veniently used for rigidly connecting the alined hoppers on opposite sides of the car center sill, rivets 4 serve to secure one leg of the angle iron to the respective floor sheets of the hoppers.

The discharge opening of the hopper is normally closed by the swinging door 5 wh ch may be hinged to the car body in any desired manner (not showng so as to swing to open position under the in uence of gravity. As is usual the door is formed from a sheet or plate of metal and its marginal edges may advantageously be flanged outwardly as at 6 to strengthen and rigidify the same. The door ma be also provided with a suitable corrugatlon 7 which in addition to strengthening the door also functions to assist in preventing the accidental escape of lading from the car. Secured to the outer face of the door plate 1s a spreader or beam 8 which is also connected to the door of the corresponding hopper on the opposite side of the car center sill so as to cause the two doors to swing as one.

The spreader may be conveniently formed as a channel having its Web 9 lying fiat against and secured to the outer side of the door plate by rivetsv 10. The upper and lower anges 11 and 12, respectively, of the channel project outwardly from the door plate. Secured to the upper flange 11 and also to the door plate by any suitable means, such as rivets, is an arm 13 preferably of angular form which is ofiset intermediate its ends to pass around the marginal flange 6 of the door and project beyond the hopper side to cooperate with mechanism carried by the latter for supporting the door in closed position.

The mechanism or means employed for cooperating with the door to retaln it in closed position includes a bracket 14, a hook 15 and a cover plate 16, the hook being housed between the bracket and cover plate. The inner face of the bracket is fashioned with a plurality of inwardly projecting apertured spools or lugs 17. Extending from the two lower spools toward the outer edge 18. of the,

bracket are ribs 19 and 20, respectively, which are connectedby a web portion 21, serving to space the portion of the bracket adjacent the hopper discharge opening outwardly from adjacent portions of the hopper side sheet. The web portion 21 extends in a plane' substantially parallel with the outer edge of the side sheet 1 and its outer face may advantageously be curved as at 22 to merge into the body portion of the bracket. The cover plate 16 is provided with apertures corresponding with those in the bracket 14 to receive rivets 23, 24 and 25, respectively, for securing parts of the mechanism to the hopper. The rivet 23 serves as a pivotal support for the hook '15 while the rivet 24 funct1ons to rotatably support the cam 26 employed for maintaining the hook in door supporting position to prevent accidental opening ofthe door. 3

The hook 15 is provided with a plurality of shoulders or ledges 27 and 28, respectively, adapted to cooperate with the upstanding leg of the angle iron door arm '13 to support the door in a position of partial closure and in a position of final closure. As considerable difliculty is often encountered in effecting a complete closure of the door due to it becoming .Warped or distorted on account of the severe service conditions to which it is sub ected, mechanism is provided by which a mechan cal advantage may be utilized to force the door to completely closed position. For this purpose the bracket 13 is provided with an-extension 29 which projects beneath the outer end of the door arm 13 when the latter is in engagement with the hook 15. This extension 29 is preferably formed with an open-sided socket 30 for receiving a', re-x movable prying lever 31 which projects through an aperture 32 formed in the outwardly: projecting leg of the door-arm 13. Thus it will'be seen that after the door has been swung into a position such that its arm may cooperate with-the ledge 27 of the hook 15, the lever 31 may be employed to readily force the door into a position such that the door arm may be engaged by the ledge or shoulder 28 of the hook to support the door in fully closed position.

Adjacent the discharge opening of the hopper, the side sheet 1 thereof is provided with a reinforcing or stiffening member 33 of angular contour. The stiffening member is preferably of Z shapehaving oppositely projecting flarfges 34'and 35 connected by an intermediate portion or web 36. The flange 34 lies against the outer face of the hopper side sheet and is interposed between the latter and the door supporting mechanism and it may advantageously be secured to the side sheet by rivets 37. As the door mechanism overlies the flange 34 and as the portion 21 of the -bracket 14 engages therewith, the mechanism together with the attaching rlvets 24 and 25 which pass throu h th flange 34 serve as additional means for clampin or securing the reinforcing member to the hopper. The web 36 of the reinforcing member projects outwardly from the side of the ho per and is disposed just outwardly of ti de marginal edge of the side sheet to form an abutment for the door. The flan e 35 is disposed substantially parallel wit the door flange 6 and cooperates therewith to act as a seal when the door is in closed position.

. As the plane of the hook adjacent its pivotal support is spaced at a comparatively great distance from the side of the hopper, turning moments of a large magnitude are set up in the door supporting mechanism when cooperating with the door to retain it in closed position. As viewed in Figure these turning moments tend to cause a rotation of the door supporting mechanism 1n a counterclockwise direction but since a part of the door supporting mechanism such as the portion 21 of the bracket 14 enga es the outer face of the hoppercontacting ange of the reinforcing member 33, the latter member adequately serves to resist these turning moments. Thus it will be seen that substantially all forces transmitted to the hook and thence to the hopper, incident to maintaining the door in closed position tendmg to deform or distort the hopper, are efliciently counteracted and resisted by the reinforcing member 33. In addition to this the reinforcmimember serves to prevent bulgingof the opper side due to the weight of the ladlng supported thereby.

Having thus .descrlbed my mvention, I claim: Y

1. In a railway car having a hopper provided with a discharge opening, the combination with a door for closing said opening, of a stiflening bar located on the hopper at the opening and formed of angular contour ineluding a flange lying against the outer face i of the hopper side sheet and a portion extending outwardly from the hopper constituting an abutment for the door.

2. In a railway car having a hopper provided with a discharge opening, the comb nation with a door for closing said opening, of. a stiffening bar located on the hopper-at the opening and formed of angular contour including a flange lying against the outer face of the hopper side sheet, an intermedlate portion extending outwardly from the hopper and'constituting an abutment for the door, the angular stiffening member further including a flange extending outwardly of and in substantially parallel relation to the edge of the door to serve as sealing means therefor.

3. A railway car having a hopper provided with a discharge opening normally closed by a swinging door,a stiffening member secured 1,754,185 til flat against the outerside of the hopper and further including a web located substantially flush with the edge of the hopper opening to serve as an abutment for the door, the stiffening member further including a flange located outwardly of and substantially parallel with the door edge to serve as sealing means.

4. In a railway car having a hopper provided with a lading discharge opening, a door for closing said opening, and means secured to the hopper side sheet for cooperating with the door to support it in closed position, the hopper side sheet being provided with a reinforcing member adjacent the hopper discharge opening to prevent bulging of the hopper side, said member being of angular contour and having a flange interposed between the door supporting means and the hopper side sheet and also having a portion extending outwardly from the latter to serve as an abutment for the door.

5. In a railway car having a hopper provided with a lading discharge opening, a door for closing said opening, the side sheet of the hopper adjacent the discharge 0 ening bein provided with an angular reinf brcing mem er, said member havin a flange lying against the outer face ofthe hopper side and a portion projecting outwardly therefrom to form an abutment for the door, and means secured to the hopper for cooperating with the door to support it in closed position, said means overlappingly engagin the outer face of the said flange of the reinfbrcing member apid serving to clamp the latter to the hopper 51 e.

6. In a railway car having a hopper provided with a lading discharge opening, a door for closing said opening, a reinforcing member mounted upon the outer face of the side sheet of the hopper adjacent the discharge opening thereof, the said member being formed with a web constituting an abutment for the door and having spaced oppositely projecting flanges, one of which lies against the hopper side sheet, and means secured to the hopper in overlapping engagement with said last named flange for cooperating with the door to retain it in closed position.

7. In a railway ear having a hopper rovided with a lading discharge opening, a oor for closing 'said opening, a reinforcing member mounted upon the outer face of the side sheet of the hopper adjacent the discharge opening thereof, said member having a plurality of flanges, one of which lies against the side sheet and the other of which projects outwardly beyond the discharge opening substantially parallel with the edge of the door to serve as sealing means therefor, said flanges being connected by a web projecting outwardly from the side of the hopper and constituting an abutment for thedoor, means mounted upon the hopper for cooperating with the 8. In a railway car having a hopper provided with a lading discharge opening,- a door for closing said opening, a reinforcing member of substantially Z-shape extending along the edge of the side sheet of the hopper defining the discharge openings thereof, one of the flanges of the 2 member being in engagement with the outer face of the hopper side sheet and the other flange thereof pro'ecting beyond the discharge opening of the opper to serve as sealing means for the door, the web of said Z member projecting laterally of the car side and constituting an abutment for the door, means secured to the ho per for coopcrating with the door to retaln it in closed position, and rivets passing through the hopper contacting flange of the said 2 member for attaching the said means to the hopper.

In testimony whereof I afl'ix my signature.

WILLIAM E. WINE. 

